Off-grid city of the future being built near Tokyo

Residents of Kanagawa, one Tokyo’s adjoining prefectures, will doubtless be pleased to hear today that they’re to get a shiny new high-tech neighbor in the form of a futuristic smart town being built in Fujisawa City, 50 kilometers west of the capital.

The project, led by Panasonic and including eight other firms, will see Fujisawa Sustainable Smart Town spring up on 19 hectares of land that will become home to some 3,000 people by March 2014.

Environment to the fore

Aside from a hefty ¥60 billion (US$730 million) bill, the companies involved will plow in their cutting-edge technology, particularly on the environmental front.

With a timely eye on the current energy crisis facing Japan, Panasonic says it will contribute, “energy infrastructures that are safe and secure, with solar power generation systems and storage battery systems.”

Creating what might amount to an off-grid solar town will surely grab the headlines, and rightly so, but there’s plenty more of interest in the plans outlined today.

Smarter planning

On the list of “Items Under Consideration” we find plans for car sharing (electric, of course), wind-powered devices, “an environment that encourages walking,” mobility and healthcare services for elderly residents and intelligent home-management software that helps all buildings in town use less power.

Although there’s no word yet on the lucky few who will be chosen to live in this Utopian paradise, we wonder if any of the TEPCO officials leaving office on the heels of the Fukushima disaster are eyeing it up as a retirement spot yet.